Notable Runs 6g 



" Rascal ! " says I, " didn't you ride off on my 

 horse?" 



" Was there ever such ingratitude r " says the 

 Spicy, " I found this year 'oss in a pond, I saves *im 

 from drowning, I brings him back to his master, 

 and he calls me a rascal ! " 



The grooms, the gents, the ladies in the balcony, 

 my own servants, all set up a roar at this ; and so 

 would I, only I was so deucedly ashamed, as not to 

 be able to laugh just then. 



And so my first day's hunting ended. Tagrag 

 and the rest declared I showed great pluck, and 

 wanted me to try again ; but " No," says I, " I have 

 been." 



TF. M. Thackeray. 



Forty Minutes with Lord Hardman's 

 Hounds o o o 



A GREAT straggly bull-finch, dark as a thunder 

 cloud, reared its solid branches like a black 

 wall. Lord Hardman crashed through on his gallant 

 chestnut, who went at it straight as an arrow shot 

 from a bow, whilst the unyielding blackthorn closed 

 behind him, looking more impenetrable than ever. 

 There was no time to pick and choose ; the smallest 

 hesitation would have proved fatal, and if the 

 huntsman would not lose sight of his hounds 

 altogether, he must not attempt to decline any 

 awkward obstacle to-day. No one, however, was 

 better fitted to ride straight across country than his 

 lordship ; perfect hands and perfect horses combined 

 to render him well nigh invincible. Lord Blaston, 

 with an oath, a jab of the spurs, and an accom- 

 panying jerk of the bridle, followed in his wake, 

 forcing the reluctant Battle-axe to cleave the thorns 



